Ernie Els reflects on relationship with Arnold Palmer

Tiger Woods enters Sunday’s final round at the Valspar Championship with a chance to win his first PGA TOUR event since 2013. PGATOUR.COM is on the scene and has live blog coverage below. Woods is tied for second with Justin Rose and Brandt Snedeker, one shot behind 54-hole leader Corey Connors. Woods is paired with Snedeker in the 1:50 p.m. ET twosome, with Connors and Rose in the final group at 2 p.m. Woods has 79 career PGA TOUR wins, second all-time to Sam Snead’s 82. His last win was the 2013 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He’s endured four back surgeries since then, recently returning to the TOUR after a year’s absence. He’s making his tournament debut this week at Innisbrook. MORE LIVE COVERAGE: Leaderboard | PGA TOUR Radio

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AVONDALE, La. – New Orleans is known for fun and frivolity and for a handful of PGA TOUR stars the laid-back attitude is proving exactly what the doctor ordered to potentially rescue flagging seasons. It’s quite incredible considering the difficulty usually associated with Foursomes or alternate shot golf as it is also known. While Michael Putnam has found some form of late his partner Michael Kim has just one top 25 in 15 starts and sits 171st in the FedExCup. So for Kim to be part of a duo at 13 under par and holding a one-shot lead through 36 holes at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is welcome to say the least. Chad Campbell is a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR including wins at big name stops like the TOUR Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard. But he hasn’t won in over 10 years and he sits 180th in the FedExCup with his best result in 15 starts this season being 31st. His partner, former Houston Open winner Matt Jones, sits 185th in the FedExCup this season without a top 25 finish from 11 starts. Campbell and Jones both described their season so far as “poorâ€� with “terribleâ€� results. So how have they forced their way to 11 under through two rounds to be just two back of the lead? “I think we just believe in each other. We’re both relaxed out there and very confident. If one of us hits a bad shot the other one can recover from it,â€� Campbell said. “Golf is a crazy game. Never know when it’s going to turn around.â€� Rob Oppenheim is 163rd in the FedExCup with just one top 25 this season, back in October last year. His partner Nate Lashley is 161st on the points list also with just one top-25 finish. Of course, that translates to them sitting tied third at 11 under. A shot further back from them at 10 under sits the partnership of Cody Gribble and John Peterson. Gribble has missed seven straight cuts and a T32 last October is his best season finish so far leaving him 189th in the FedExCup. He admits he’s a “streaky playerâ€� but felt this sort of golf wasn’t far off. “I’ve been on a little cold streak for a while but I’m hitting the ball so much better and I’ve put a lot of work in the game and I’m finally starting to see some results,â€� he said. Petersen is coming back from a major medical but in his four starts a T47 best at the Sony Open is his peak. He’s 214th in the FedExCup standings needing 240 points in his next four starts to gain his card. But with a new baby at home he’s not grinding over results – he’s actually quite content to take up a commercial real estate career and hang up the clubs should things not work out post his wrist injury. “I’ve been fine for about eight months now. Just haven’t played like it. My wrist is fine. I don’t have the range of mobility as I used to, but it doesn’t hurt. That’s really the only thing that mattered,â€� Peterson said. “I enjoy my time at home much more than I do my time out here; it’s not frustrating for me to miss a cut. If I make it great, if not, I’m not going to keep playing.â€� NOTABLES Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown continue to put themselves in a great position to make up for last year’s playoff loss. A solid 2-under 70 left the pair at 12 under and just one shot off the lead. Patrick Reed and Patrick Cantlay’s putting was as black as their matching outfits at times but red hot at others on Friday leaving them with five birdies but four bogeys and a 71. At 8 under they are close enough to make a charge. Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar rebounded from an average Thursday to put up the round of the day Friday. Their 5-under 67 included slapping each other in the face numerous times. See more here. Overnight co-leaders Chez Reavie and Lucas Glover plus Chinese duo Xinjun Zhang and Zecheng Dou struggled with the switch to alternate shot. Reavie and Glover shot 75 but remain close enough at 9 under while Zhang and Dou imploded with an 80 to miss the cut. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, the gold and silver medal winners from the Rio Olympics, are lurking at 8 under just five-shots back. “I think we’ve done some good things out there. Don’t think we’ve had our run yet. Haven’t made any putts; we haven’t chipped in; we haven’t had a long putt fall for us; we had five bogeys,â€� Rose said. “So to be 8 under with all that going on… if we can clean all that up and get a little bit of luck and a run going on the weekend, I think we can mount a charge.â€� They are joined at 8 under by fellow European duo of Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell. Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer were sailing along solidly until Spieth found water off the tee on the 17th hole and again on approach on the 18th hole. He then left a shot in a greenside bunker – from a plugged lie – for the team to finish double bogey, double bogey and miss the cut by a shot. Read more here. RoundUp: Brooks Koepka missed the cut in his return to golf from a wrist injury unable to get enough help from Marc Turnesa; Jon Rahm and Wesley Bryan won’t be around for weekend hospitality after struggling Friday; defending champions Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt finished with back-to-back double bogeys to crash out of the tournament; Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello failed to go low enough to stick around; FedExCup leader Justin Thomas and Bud Cauley went under par but were unable to make up enough ground from a poor Thursday and Jim Furyk and David Duval could not keep the mojo going from Thursday, missing the weekend by a shot. QUOTABLES If we ever make an eagle it’s a double slap.I probably hit it into places Andrew never seen before. Birdies are what’s going to count tomorrow.It’s been my ring tone for three years.I left my shoe on, so they couldn’t smell my skin. SUPERLATIVES Low Round: 5-under 67 – Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar. Easiest Hole: Par-5 7th played at 4.675 with an eagle and 33 birdies. Hardest Hole: Par-3 17th played to a 3.588 average with seven double bogeys and five others. Incredibly Billy Hurley III made an ace from 223 yards with a 5-iron. Best Shots: Hurley’s above ace is tied with Chris Paisley making a hole-in-one of his own on the 3rd hole from 221 yards. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of Round 3, listen from 1-6 p.m. ET Saturday on PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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This week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic presents one of the most underrated narratives of the year. On the eve of the season’s second major – the U.S. Open, colloquially accepted to identify the best overall golfer – there isn’t a fairer, more consistent or more reliable host course than TPC Southwind. Now in its 30th consecutive year as the site of the SJC, TPC Southwind rewards one’s game as much as it tests it. In accordance, two-time defending Daniel Berger has solved it as much as he’s survived one of the stingiest par 70s on the schedule. Scroll beneath the ranking for more on his formula, how the course sets up and more. Power Rankings: FedEx St. Jude Classic Rank Player Comment Defied empirical wisdom with a runner-up finish as a debutant at Colonial two weeks ago. Since 2014 at TPC Southwind, he’s 4-for-4 with a T2, a T3 and a scoring average of 68.56. The winner in his debut in 2012 also placed fifth in his last trip in 2016. Pacing the PGA TOUR in adjusted scoring and strokes gained: tee-to-green. Top 20s in all nine stroke-play starts this year. Loves TPC Southwind for the test. His results prove it. Since 2013, he’s 5-for-5 with two T2s, a T3 and a scoring average of 67.95. Led field in birdies-or-better percentage at Memorial to place T13. First trip since a T13 in 2012. Suits his game perfectly. Tops on TOUR in both fairways hit, greens in regulation and par-4 scoring. Also 20th in proximity and sixth in scrambling. The horse-for-a-course label normally doesn’t suit the streaky 31-year-old, but it’s a real thing at TPC Southwind. Since 2013, he’s gone T10-T6-T8-T4 with a scoring average of 68.31. Making his tournament debut. Fresh off a T13 at the Memorial, his sixth top 25 in seven starts. Sits 18th on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 15th in adjusted scoring. All he does is win the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Champion in both appearances with a scoring average of 67.13. Just like in advance of last year’s title, he’s scuffling upon arrival this week. At third on TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green, TPC Southwind is in his wheelhouse. He’s back for redemption, too. Finished T18 after sitting one stroke off the 54-hole lead last year. Springs in after a bogey-free 66 on Sunday at Muirfield Village yielded a fifth-place finish, his second such result in three starts. Inside the top 20 on TOUR in both par-4 and par-5 scoring. Rebounded from an opening 77 at Muirfield Village with 69, but still missed the cut. It was one bad round on the heels of three straight top 10s. Shared runner-up honors here last year. Already eligible for Special Temporary Membership with three top 10s in five starts as a pro, the former top-ranked amateur in the world is drawing on the Jon Rahm speed slot to the PGA TOUR. If he sticks with his strengths, he’ll piggyback a T10 here in 2017. Currently seventh on TOUR in total driving, third in GIR, T32 in proximity and sixth in strokes gained: tee-to-green. The 2014 champ has earned more at TPC Southwind than at any other course with another five top 20s, including a T10 last year. He’s 7-for-7 since Honda with a T11 at Valero and a T8 at Colonial. After a T5 at the BMW PGA, placed T13 at Memorial in what was his first start with Special Temporary Membership. It was his first top 25 on the PGA TOUR in a non-WGC since 2016. Hey, why not? The 27-year-old has turned open qualifying into “The T.J. Vogel Show.” Six times a four-spotter this season alone, no one matches his mojo. Turned one opportunity into a T16 at Copperhead. Memorial co-runner-up Byeong Hun An, Kevin Chappell, Charles Howell III, J.B. Holmes and Steve Stricker will be among the notables included in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. TPC Southwind sets up as properly as any touring professional would want. It’s as good a primer for the U.S. Open as you’re going to find, but it very much stands on its own merit, thank you very much. At 7,244 yards, it’s long enough but it doesn’t eliminate the lightest of knockers. The set of four par 3s and both of its par 5s are scorable, but the dozen par 4s are challenging as a group. Yet, only once in the last nine years has any of the par 4s ranked inside the top-50 hardest on the PGA TOUR (hole No. 5 in 2015). Last year’s field scoring average of 70.630 aligned with its history, which is to say that it’s predictable, which is exactly what any collection of any tournament organizers targets. Finding fairways is a secondary objective to hitting greens that average just over 5,400 square feet, a smaller-than-usual area that helps defend par. The Champion bermuda surfaces are prepped to run as long as 12 feet on the Stimpmeter, so there’s nothing foreign or tricky about that. Tinier targets tend to cater to ball-strikers. Case in point, although Berger is renowned for loving himself bermuda greens, but he’s done his work at TPC Southwind without the putter, leading the field in strokes gained: tee-to-green en route to both of his titles. He finished a respective T1 and T10 in greens hit and T5 and T7 in proximity to the hole. Returning participants in the field of 156 will see some modifications on and around the greens at the par-3 eighth and 14th holes, but the overall yardage of the course is unchanged. The primary rough (also bermuda) has been manicured to reach two-and-a-half inches. Mother Nature will do her part in seeing that the course plays as planned. Warm and dry (but typically humid) air is in store through the 36-hole cut. A risk of rain and storms creeps into the picture on the weekend. Wind is not expected to be a factor. It was announced this spring that this tournament will evolve into the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in 2019. It will replace the existing WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and will continue to be contested at TPC Southwind. The dates for the competition are TBD. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton reviews and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Facebook Live, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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